It was strangely peaceful, and the elves could barely believe it. For the past few days, they had to keep their eyes peeled and their ears open just to avoid monsters and survive, but now, the monsters seemed to die on their own before they could even get close. Roberta easily cleared them all out.
The elders looked toward Leon, unable to fathom how such a frail and weak-looking discarded noble could have such a horrifying servant. It was true that the monsters in this forest weren't that powerful, but the fact that she cleared them with ease was still absurd.
As the day ended, they were already at the foot of the mountain. Leon looked for a nice open patch of land and then ordered everyone to camp there. They all needed rest, especially Noel, who carried Beatrice on her back the whole day.
The camp was simple, just a fire that they could warm themselves and sleep around. But this time, Noel and Roberta didn't need to get sticks to ignite it with elbow grease, as one of the elvish women had the skill [Kindling Ash], which made her hands as hot as kindling ash and allowed her to easily ignite flames if she had access to dry kindling or leaves.
They cooked what Roberta hunted and ate peacefully by the flame. The elves even had a pot with them and a few wooden bowls for soup. So Noel had to show her skills and cook a nice, hearty stew using the fresh meat, berries, and herbs they foraged from the forest.
Everyone ate, and when Leon asked for a refill, Noel took his bowl, headed back to the pot, and scooped a bit with the wooden ladle, only to pull something strange out.
It was a naked woman as tall as Noel's hand. She had translucent, butterfly like wings, long green hair, and glowing golden eyes. Looking at it, Noel immediately threw the ladle away to the ground.
The woman hit the ground, rolled, and when she stood, she already wore a fine white dress. "Oi there! Ungrateful human." She growled, "What do you think you're doing?"
Everyone stared at her in shock, and one of the elves' elders gasped. "A fairy?"
The fairy smiled as she flew up and landed on the edge of the still-boiling stew pot. "That is true! I am a spirit, the one responsible for this section of the forest." She puffed her chest with pride.
"I don't care." Noel glared at her. "What were you doing naked in our stew pot? No, why didn't you get cooked?"
The fairy frowned. "That's why you humans are... Do you know how much people would pay for a single pinch of fairy dust?" She pointed at the elvish kids. "Their feet hurt a lot, and they've been praying to the spirits the whole day to make this trip end quickly, so I decided to help them a bit."
Leon approached. "Fairy dust is the fairy's dead skin and wing dust. Due to their magical nature, the dust can greatly increase someone's recovery speed and mana regeneration. In fact, with enough, most diseases can be cured."
"You're right! White boy!" She pointed at him, "Do you understand my greatness now?" She looked even more haughty than before.
"One pinch of fairy dust costs a gold coin, and it's only available on the black market as it's banned." Leon threw a sharp glare at the fairy. "People had hunted the fairies so much that it almost started a war."
"That doesn't matter now." The fairy floated up. It seems that she doesn't even need to flap her wings to fly. "Besides helping the kids, I was ordered by the queen to check this place, as tens of monsters died today."
She made a hole with her fingers and looked through it at everyone. The elves were relatively weak, and so was Beatrice. But then, Noel's aura was as huge as a true, burning with magic.
"You're one powerful cook." The fairy shifted her attention toward Roberta and looked absolutely horrified and disgusted. "Guh! How scary, a whole lake of blood and magic. No wonder no monster survived you."
As she looked at the girls, she noticed that all three of them had a link flying toward Leon, so now she tried to look at him. But when she did, her vision turned black.
The fairy blinked, looked at her hand, shook it, and once more made a hole with her fingers and looked through, only for the world to turn black again. After trying two more times, she sighed. "I give up. I'm exhausted." She shrugged and flew toward Beatrice, landing on her hand.
"Here you go, an extra does so you can walk." The fairy shook her wings over Beatrice's bowl and sprinkled a generous amount of her dust on it.
"Wait!" One of the elders approached. "Esteemed fairy... to have graced us with so much of your dust... we can't possibly pay you for such a thing."
The fairy waved her hand with a large, smug grin on her face. "Don't mind it, don't mind it. The queen is paying me, so you don't have anything to worry about." She then flew away, laughing like a maniac. "Don't die there! Fragile mortals, whahahahahaha!"
Leon stared at her as she left, and then back at the pot. "Fairies are known to play pranks on people, ones that could end up badly." He sat down. "Just be careful. We don't know if she put something else in the pot."
After they finished eating, to everyone's surprise, Beatrice could actually walk on her own. The fairy wasn't lying. Her dust really helped. Soon, the children and everyone else were fully healed, giving them a huge boost to their morale.
Tonight, the elves wanted to be on guard duty, so Leon let them do so. Roberta needed to rest after all, and he could fill in if the elves needed help. But for now, he huddled to a tree close to the flames and closed his eyes. Even though it looked like he did nothing the whole day, he was trying to master [Blood Lord] in secret by using it to sense everyone's blood, locate nearby small animals, and even try to manipulate his own blood.
He was sleepy, exhausted, and feeling like he had been running a marathon the entire day.
As he took a deep breath, he felt something heavy crawling on his chest, so he opened his eyes, and what he saw was Noel, curling up on his chest. "What? Don't want me nearby?" She looked at him with a smile, and he pulled her up to him with a hug. "Of course not."
Seeing them, Beatrice approached. "The kids are asleep in the tent the elves had with them. What are you two doing?" Noel immediately stared back at her with a smug smile. "I'm comforting my master. Got a problem?"
Leon sighed. "Ever since I was a little kid terrified of lightning or the monster under the bed, Noel had to sleep with me so I wouldn't stay awake the whole day. Eventually, it became a habit."
"Really?" Beatrice crawled into Leon's side. "Then you won't mind me slipping in here, right?" Noel tried to push her away, but Beatrice was stuck to Leon like glue.
A few seconds later, Roberta also slowed up, and without saying a word, she crawled onto Leon's other side. "I'll take this side then." Unlike the other two, Roberta was blatantly pressing her chest against him.
As the three girls argued on top of him, Leon heard his skill whisper.
[Notice: Roberta's Loyalty had increased from 20% to 30%]
[Notice: Due to Roberta's slavery contract, her Loyalty had been forced to 100%.]
[Notice: Beatrice Saintly's Loyalty had increased from 7% to 15%]
[Notice: All of Beatrice Saintly's stats would increase by the same percentage of her Loyalty to the Sultan when fighting in his name. Current increase 15%]
[Notice: Noel Cromwell Loyalty has increased from 13% to 20%]
[Notice: All of Noel Cromwell's stats would increase by the same percentage of her Loyalty to the Sultan when fighting in his name. Current increase 20%]
[Notice: All of the Sultan's Stats increased by the combined percentage of loyalty of his Harem. Current increase 135%]
[Notice: Roberta's Affection had increased from 0% to 23%]
[Notice: Beatrice Saintly's Affection had increased from 0% to 6%]
[Notice: Noel Cromwell Affection has increased from 60% to 65%]